"Harvest Moon, same as always but better than ever!"

Harvest Moon: Friends Of Mineral Town

From the days of SNES, Harvest Moon games have been favorites of gamer's. The Harvest Moon games have not changed much in content, you still farm and make money, but there have been vast improvements. All of these improvements have come together to create the Game Boy Advance game: Harvest Moon: Friends Of Mineral Town.

Story 8/10 Ok, while the story isn’t a thought provoking one, or even a very interesting story, it fits. You aren’t going to have a story of a boy who wishes to avenge the death of the old man he met before. It’s a simple one: old man dies, main character inherits farm. Anything else would not be appropriate to the game.

Graphics 10/10 Wow... I really can’t say much else besides wow. I have played 3 different Harvest Moon games. The original for SNES, Harvest Moon 64, and Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town. You can’t really compare the graphics to the Nintendo 64 version, since they are completely different gaming engines. However, compared to the original SNES game, the graphics are much better. A very good part of this game is the graphics.

Sound 6/10 The sound gets quite repetitive. Each of the four seasons has the same music, over and over. You never escape the same music. Each morning its the same thing, and it continues throughout the day.

Play time 10/10 This game goes on forever.. literally. There is no end (as far as I have seen or read) and you continue doing the same thing day after day, year after year. You could go on that long, but you will eventually get bored with it. This of course, will not happen soon. You can count on a very long game.

Fun? or no? 9/10 Yes, this game is very fun. The idea does get kind of repetitive, and getting some of the items is quite a daunting task. However, the rest of the game is awesome. You can do whatever you want. You can have a giant empire of animals, crops or both. The possibilities are endless. (not really, but it seems so.)

Overall 8/10 This is the best Harvest Moon yet (that I have played at least.) It has its downfalls, but it is still the same Harvest Moon we have all grown to know and love. You could do better, but it would be a stretch. The game has problems, but they are minor and the fun factor outweighs these flaws.

Rent or Buy: Buy. This game is worth the money. Since GBA games are cheaper than most console games its not too much of a pull on the wallet. You will get your money’s worth on it. So, go out there and buy your copy. After that, you decide.

Disclaimer: This game is addictive. The surgeon general says that obsessive playing will result in “boonie-ism” or the need to become a farmer.